Heritage Trust Co Buys Shares of 26,470 Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)

Heritage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 26,470 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,520,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ES. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 40,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,306,000 after purchasing an additional 9,981 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in Eversource Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $744,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Eversource Energy by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,735,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $99,554,000 after purchasing an additional 510,582 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Eversource Energy by 125.2% in the 4th quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 8,093 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Eversource Energy by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 73,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,198,000 after purchasing an additional 7,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ES shares. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Eversource Energy from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a "sector underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Eversource Energy from $52.00 to $47.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Eversource Energy from $79.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and set a $58.00 price objective (down from $69.00) on shares of Eversource Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Eversource Energy from $72.00 to $69.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.78.

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Insider Activity

In other Eversource Energy news, insider Frederica M. Williams sold 3,092 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $192,507.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,671 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,496.46. The trade was a 12.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Jay S. Buth sold 980 shares of Eversource Energy stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.99, for a total transaction of $61,730.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 24,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,535,318.26. The trade was a 3.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.41% of the company's stock.

Eversource Energy Stock Performance

Shares of ES traded up $0.83 on Wednesday, reaching $58.81. 896,650 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,321,068. The firm has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.58. Eversource Energy has a 12 month low of $52.28 and a 12 month high of $69.01. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $60.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.01. Eversource Energy had a return on equity of 10.99% and a net margin of 6.82%. Equities analysts forecast that Eversource Energy will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eversource Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.7525 dividend. This represents a $3.01 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. This is a boost from Eversource Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 4th. Eversource Energy's payout ratio is presently 130.30%.

Eversource Energy Profile

Eversource Energy, a public utility holding company, engages in the energy delivery business. The company operates through Electric Distribution, Electric Transmission, Natural Gas Distribution, and Water Distribution segments. It is involved in the transmission and distribution of electricity; solar power facilities; and distribution of natural gas.